William C. Oates
|died= |image= |caption= |nickname= |placeofbirth= Pike County, Alabama |placeofdeath= Montgomery, Alabama |placeofburial= Oakwood Cemetery |placeofburial_label= Place of burial |allegiance= United States of America Confederate States of America United States of America |branch= Confederate States Army (CSA) United States Army (USA) |serviceyears= 1861–65 1898 |rank= Colonel (CSA) Brigadier General (USA) |unit= |commands= 15th Alabama Infantry 48th Alabama |battles=American Civil War * Battle of Gettysburg * Battle of Chickamauga * Battle of the Wilderness * Battle of Spotsylvania Court House Spanish American War |awards= |relations= |laterwork= }} William Calvin Oates (either November 30 or December 1, 1835 – September 9, 1910) was a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War, the 29th Governor of Alabama from 1894 to 1896, and a brigadier general in the U.S. Army during the Spanish–American War. Early life Oates was born in Pike County, Alabama, to William and Sarah (Sellers) Oates, a poor farming family. At the age of 17, he believed that he had killed a man in a violent brawl and left home for Florida. Oates became a drifter, settling in Texas for a couple of years before returning to Alabama at the urging of his younger brother John, who had been dispatched by the family to locate him. He studied law and passed the bar examination, and then opened a practice in Abbeville. Civil War Oates joined the Confederate States Army in 1861 and eventually became the commander of the 15th Alabama infantry regiment in the spring of 1863. He fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, leading his troops in a series of charges on Little Round Top, where his brother John perished. This became one of Oates's significant memory of the war, as he believed that if his regiment had been able to take Little Round Top, the Army of Northern Virginia might have won the battle, and possibly marched on to take Washington, D.C. Oates later stated that if even a single additional Confederate regiment had joined the assault, the attack could have succeeded, turning the Union's flank and threatening the entire Army of the Potomac.LaFantasie, Glenn W., The Inimitable William C. Oates, National Park Service website, accessed 10/26/07. Oates stated: Oates participated in the battles of Chickamauga, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. After transferring to the 48th Alabama, he was wounded near Petersburg, Virginia, losing his right arm, which ended his active service. Postbellum career Oates resumed his law practice in Henry County, Alabama, and served as a delegate to the 1868 Democratic National Convention. From 1870 to 1872, he was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives. In 1880 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served seven consecutive terms. Oates married Sarah Toney of Eufaula on March 28, 1882, and they had one son, William Calvin, Jr., who eventually joined his father in the law practice. Oates was elected governor of Alabama in 1894 in a bitter campaign. Two years later, he unsuccessfully tried to secure his party's nomination as a candidate for the United States Senate. President William McKinley commissioned Oates as a brigadier general in 1898 and he served in the Spanish American War. He returned to his law practice and speculated in real estate. He tried unsuccessfully to have a monument erected at Gettysburg to his comrades in the old 15th Alabama, including his fallen brother. Oates died in Montgomery, and is buried there in Oakwood Cemetery. Notes References *Biography of William C. Oates * LaFantasie, Glenn W., Gettysburg Requiem: The Life and Lost Causes of Confederate Colonel William C. Oates, Oxford University Press, 2005. * Oates, William C., The War Between the Union and the Confederacy, The Neale Publishing Company, 1905. External links * Encyclopedia of Alabama * Category:1835 births Category:1910 deaths Category:Governors of Alabama Category:Confederate States Army officers Category:Members of the Alabama House of Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama Category:People of Alabama in the American Civil War de:William C. Oates la:Gulielmus Calvinus Oates pl:William C. Oates simple:William C. Oates fi:William C. Oates